Full Moon
by Persephone Vega
Summary: Snape has been tipped off about what happens if he touches a certain knot on the Whomping Willow. When James finds out about it, can he prevent disaster? The stakes only rise when a certain red haired girl sees the situation unfolding and decides to inves


Disclaimer: I own nothing; this is completely Ms. Rowling's fabrication.

Chapter One

History of Magic was not a difficult class, but most Hogwarts students had difficulty keeping up because they spent most of the time drifting in and out of sleep. Today, however, the whole class sat alert, hunched over their final exam. The tension was so thick in the silent, still air that it could be cut with a knife, and the warm June day outside did nothing to make the students less anxious to get out of the castle.

James Potter was one of the first ones done with his essay. Upon finishing, he sat up and observed the scene around him: his best mate, Sirius Black, was still writing, but Remus was finished. Peering to the front of the classroom, James could see that Lily Evans appeared to be done with her exam too, and was staring blankly out the window with droopy eyes. James couldn't help but admire how the sun struck her hair, making it gleam mahogany. Beyond her, at the front desk, Professor Binns levitated over his chair, fast asleep. If, James wondered, ghosts do sleep.

The clock read 3:15, which meant that in five minutes students would be free of classes, homework, and the other toils of school until the test results came back. But even better, James remember, was that tonight was the last full moon of the school year. They would have to make it a good one. Looking back at Remus, he did seem a little paler than usual today.

The rest of the class was finishing now, and the noise level in the classroom started to increase with the rustling of papers and quills being put away. Silent whispers began to buzz, and Binns stirred. After he collected the tests, the sixth-year students sat anticipating the ringing of the final bell. Sirius turned around to James and quietly muttered, "So? What did you want to do tonight?"

"I dunno," replied James, keeping his voice low. "Moony can decide. It'll just be great to get out, you know?"

"Definitely. History of Magic _and_ Transfiguration in one day? What where they thinking?" moaned Sirius. "Not that _some_ of us had any trouble…"

James smiled to himself. "Evans did well, too, you know."

"Always Evans…" Sirius trailed off. Suddenly, the bell rang and the sixth years made a mad dash for the door. Out in the corridor, a cool breeze blew through the open window.

"Yes! Freedom! Finally!" exclaimed Remus as he joined Sirius and James. "No more exams."

"It's about time; I think Wormtail was about to crack there for a while." Sirius grinned wickedly, like he always did when struck with an idea. "Hey… race you both to the Fat Lady?"

"You're on!"

At this James and Sirius bolted down the corridors before Remus could decline. Even carrying all his books, it felt great to stretch out and run, though James. He was even beating Sirius, which came to no surprise, to James, anyway, considering the latter was taller, with longer legs and years of Quidditch training. As the adrenaline kicked in, James felt as though he was flying, whizzing past other students as though in a dream.

Until he knocked into something. Or someone. With a great _THWAP,_ James knocked into a slouched figure walking very slowly, the last person James wanted to see: Severus Snape.

Anger swelled up inside James like a balloon. How dare he get in my way? Even though he knew he was being unreasonable, he couldn't control himself. Snape had to ruin everything, and now there was no way he was getting out of this without casting a good hex.

Trying to subdue himself, James muttered a quick apology but began to make for his wand.

"And they say you're the smart one?" Inquired Snape coolly as he bent down to pick up his scattered things. "You'd think that after…" he paused as he counted, " … five years of Quidditch you would have acquired some coordination, or at least the snese not to run in the hallway." Slowly, Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?" James narrowed his eyes. His hand was on his wand now, but James had learned to let Snape make the first move. After a moment of glaring, the two slowly inched away.

"You're half-blood friend looked kind of peaky today," Snape called from behind. "Does the lout have to go home to his mother again, or is it something else entirely?"

James whipped back around. "What?"

Snape smiled evilly.

At just that moment, Sirius turned the corner and slammed to a halt. Immediately, his mouth curled with distaste. "So what all's going on here?"

Nonchalantly, Snape answered, "I was just asking your idiot friend here about your other partner in crime. Is his mother always sick once a month, or is Lupin looking a little pale today?"

James could see Sirius tense up. "At least he has some cleanliness to him," Sirius shot at Snape. "Unlike someone else we know."

Snape's eyes flickered, but he didn't react. Instead, he just bent back down to pick up his books. James made no effort to help him, and he and Sirius continued down the hall, ready to fight. Almost on cue, Snape shouted a curse from behind them. Anticipating such an attack, James cast a hex before Snape's spell could reach him.

"You bloody git!" screeched James. Within seconds, more spells went flying, sending sparks of many colors bouncing off the coats of armor. James could hear Filch running down the falls, but Snape had just barely missed his last leg-locking curse- just one more second-

BANG. With the weight of a sledgehammer, James was hit in the back of the head by a particularly nasty curse. He stumbled to prevent himself from falling, and ended up sliding behind a coat of armor just before his vision went black.

When James finally came to, the sun was beginning to dip below the treetops, but there was still plenty of daylight left. Groggily, he brought his wrist up to his face and peered at his watch. 6:30. Dinner had just started, then. Knowing that he had plenty of time, James figured he should get himself cleaned up before he faced Snape at dinner. The knees of his pants where ripped, his glasses where broken, and he had a gash from where the spell had hit him. He set on back to the Gryffindor tower, still a little dizzy.

He had no memory of what took place after he blacked out, or he would have known that Snape was not at dinner. For that matter, neither was Sirius Black. Both were in the trophy room, finishing up the detention Filch had assigned when he discovered the boys doing magic in the corridors. That meant that James had no idea that at this very moment, Sirius and Snape were having a conversation that would make that night very interesting.


End file.
